


This Means War

by knifinaround



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Prank Wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24339748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifinaround/pseuds/knifinaround
Summary: Lena takes a slow step forward so that their faces are almost touching. “Is this really a war you want to fight, Kara Danvers?” she lets out in low whisper, placing particular emphasis on the syllables of Kara’s name.“Yes?” Kara chokes in reply.Unconvinced, Lena arches an eyebrow. “Are you asking me or are you telling me?”“I’m telling you,” Kara says, managing a little more resolve in her voice this time.“Very well, Kara Danvers,” Lena says, again drawing out the syllables of Kara’s name. “If it’s a war you want, then it’s a war you’ll get.”---What happens when two people in charge of campus institutions naturally at odds with each other start a prank war instead of talking about their feelings?
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100





	This Means War

The Tribune office is so densely plastered with front pages from issues past that no one can tell what color the walls are. To some, this display of newspaper in varying states of yellowing decay might look as though the staff of the Tribune are dirty packrats in need of a recycling bin. To Kara, it feels like the walls themselves are breathing history. Staring at these pages, she can trace the legacies of each editor-in-chief who has come before her.

Headlines reading “New Bakery on the Rise” and “Closing Pizzeria Out of Dough” evidence the pun-happy era of the Tribune under Edward Nigma. Eventually, the wordplay fades out and, by the time the paper is helmed by Perry White, the quippy tone has been replaced with a serious professionalism and commitment to the rigorous reporting of even the most mundane stories. “New Traffic Pattern on East Campus” as a lead story, really Perry? Give the reader a little stimulation. Lois Lane clearly thought as much, as her issues pivoted toward human interest stories and sprawling feature pieces.

And then there is Clark. Kara stops at the freshest additions to the wall. Her cousin managed to blend the best of both Perry and Lois, while infusing his own earnest, smalltown voice. Clark’s emphasis on truth and justice seemed to bleed through the headlines in a way that made you feel like you could trust the pages themselves.

“You alright there, chief?” Alex says as she places a hand on Kara’s shoulder. This snaps Kara from her trance and, flustered, she spins around to face Alex.

“Huh?” Kara sputters. “Oh, hi, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about legacies.”

“Right, normal stuff,” Alex says with concern in her voice. “We brought you a latte from the good coffee shop on campus.”

With her composure now mostly regained, Kara notices that James and Winn are flanking Alex and that Winn is holding a cup with “Cafe Lawte” and a gavel printed on the side. She flashes a grateful smile and takes the coffee from Winn.

“Thanks,” Kara says after a quick sip. However, neither the sudden presence of her friends nor a much-needed cup of coffee make her anxiety dissipate. Kara absentmindedly picks at some excess plastic twisting up on her lid.

“Kara, what’s bothering you?” Alex asks as she reaches out a hand to stop Kara’s picking. Kara immediately relinquishes the plastic, but Alex keeps her hand on Kara’s.

“It’s just that I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not ready for this,” Kara admits. “I’m afraid that I’m going to let everyone down.”

“Hey, the only thing you need to focus on is being you,” Alex gives Kara’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “You’re going to be a great editor-in-chief, and you don’t need to copy anyone on these walls to do that.”

“She’s right, Kara,” James adds. “Clark felt the same way last year, and I’m sure everyone on these walls felt something like it too.”

“I bet you’ll feel better when you get through your first staff meeting,” Winn says.

Kara exhales and lets go of the tension in her shoulders. “You’re right. I just have to jump in and hit the ground running. Thanks, guys. What would I do without you?”

“You’d probably freak out and cry in front of the staff,” Alex answers in a deadpan. “Remember your middle school choir solo?”

“How is that relevant right now, Alex?” Kara asks, ripping her hand out of Alex’s calming grip.

“Just saying,” Alex shrugs. “You have a history of crying when you’re in public performance situations while emotionally overwhelmed.”

“Maybe when I was 12… I’m a grown woman… kept changing the arrangement on me…” Kara’s muttered protests are drowned out as the rest of the staff start to file in. Loud voices asking each other about summer vacations and new course schedules dominate the office, but Kara still catches Winn asking Alex for the video of the fated choir concert in time to intervene.

“I can totally send you a copy of the footage,” Alex offers to Winn.

“Oh, look at that,” Kara rushes in, physically putting herself between Winn and Alex to disrupt their co-conspiring. “The meeting starts in a minute. It’s time for you to take a seat. To be punctual is to be professional, and all that.”

Alex rolls her eyes and mouths “killjoy,” but she and Winn both head to the back of the newsroom to take seats at the far end of the table. The massive table takes up the center of the newsroom. During production nights, the table doubles as a canvas for editors to sprawl across as they proof articles and layouts. Whatever fake pine smell the table had when first acquired has long been replaced by the lingering smell of faint body odor and moisture from the hot bottoms of pizza boxes on production nights.

Kara stands at the head of the long table, but doesn’t sit down. James takes his seat immediately to her right, the usual spot for the photography editor any given year. Kara puts her hands on her hips and takes a deep breath.

“Hello, everyone,” Kara begins. “It’s so great to see all your faces, familiar and new. I’m excited to work with you all this year. I’ll keep today’s meeting short. I just want to go over some ground rules for the coming year.”

“First, production night is every Tuesday night starting at 5pm and going until late. That means articles are due Monday at 8pm so that section editors have time to copy edit them before we layout the paper.”

A hand shoots into the air.

“Yes?” Kara nods at an eager girl in a floral dress.

“What if the story you are covering is about something that’s happening on Tuesday morning?” the girl asks.

“Right, that will happen from time to time,” Kara starts. “Sorry, can you introduce yourself?”

“Of course,” the girl says and her voice comes out so earnest that she vaguely reminds Kara of herself at her first staff meeting. “My name is Nia Nal. I am a freshman and I am so excited to be a part of the Tribune. I mean, I would love to be involved if you will have me.”

“Great, Nia,” Kara gives her a warm smile and resumes her answer. “Communication is key. If you know your article is going to be in later than Monday, for any reason, you’ll need to discuss it with me and your section editor beforehand so we can give you a revised deadline.”

Nia nods and vigorously scribbles Kara’s words down.

“That brings me to my next point,” Kara says as she passes a stack of papers around the table. “This is the staff contact sheet. Note that it lists section editors. Section editors should be your main point of contact depending on the content of the story you’re working on. For example, if you’re working on a piece for the crime beat, you should be in contact with Alex. You should email me if you have any issues with administration when you’re working on a story. Cat Grant is listed on here as our faculty advisor, but that doesn’t mean you should email her about day-to-day minutiae. Consider her a last resort option when something major is going on.”

Nia’s hand is in the air again and Kara gives her a nod to cue her question. “Is it true that Professor Grant starts every year by making a new reporter cry? That’s what some upperclassmen told me and I really don’t want to be the one to cry.”

“No, that’s totally a rumor,” Kara rolls her eyes. “Professor Grant can be intense because she cares about her job and she’s very good at it. That may intimidate some people, but that doesn’t make her a scary monster.”

Nia visibly relaxes at her response. There are many rumors floating around campus about Cat. Kara’s personal favorite is that Cat once challenged the university basketball coach to a game of HORSE and won. Usually these rumors amuse Kara, but not when they’re scaring her new writers.

“From this point forward, you should come to every staff meeting with at least three story ideas to pitch. We’ll discuss what stories to pursue as a whole staff and then the editors will meet to finalize the agenda for every issue. Section editors will let you know about article assignments once agendas are finalized.”

No raised hand from Nia this time, but the speed of her writing intensifies.

“As a reminder, you should be in the habit of recording your sources. We don’t misquote and we don’t take words out of context. So, keep those recorders charged and those sources on the record.”

Nia’s hand is back in the air.

“Nia?” Kara asks with a smile.

“Can we use the voice memo app on our phones instead of a recorder?” Nia asks.

“That’s fine, but you might consider investing in a good recorder,” Kara says. “It looks more professional and you don’t have to worry about it ringing in the middle of an interview.”

“The last thing I want to say is that it is such an honor to be trusted with providing our readers with information that matters to them,” Kara stands a little taller as she rounds the corner on her grandstanding. “When done with care, a newspaper can provide more than just facts, it can provide hope. So, take care when doing your job. And don’t be afraid to have a little fun while doing it.”

Kara is beaming at her staff, hands proudly placed on her hips. It’s tricky to strike the right balance between professional and fun in the workplace, but she thinks she nailed it. She sees a hand in the air, and she’s surprised to see that this time it belongs to Alex and not Nia. Kara nods at her.

“One more base to cover, don’t trust the student government,” Alex says as she casually leans back in her chair.

Kara glares at Alex and shakes her head. Leave it to her sister to stir up needless drama. True to form, Nia’s hand is in the air before Kara can think of a way to distract from what Alex just said.

“Yes, Nia?” Kara sighs.

“Right on, down with the government,” Nia pumps a fist in the air. “But first, may I ask why?”

“Don’t listen to Alex,” Kara says. “Extend the same healthy skepticism to your sources in the student government that you would to all of your sources. There is nothing uniquely evil about the student government.”

“To be fair, Kara, can we really ignore what Lex did last year?” James chimes in.

Ah, the Lex Luthor incident. Kara had wanted to get further into the job than the first meeting before this was brought up. The leftover emotions from last year’s fallout are still sticky around campus, and especially in the Tribune office. Kara was still trying to think of a way to diffuse those emotions so that they didn’t introduce any bias into their reporting.

“OK, I’m going to briefly acknowledge this incident to catch all the new reporters up, but then I don’t want to hear about it again in this office,” Kara says reluctantly. “What happened is over and we don’t need to keep bringing it up. Basically, Clark found out that Lex was abusing his position as student body president by spending university money on personal expenses.”

“Personal expenses?” Alex interrupts. “Try luxury hotel stays, gourmet catering for government meetings, and booking the National City Orchestra for private shows. Honestly, Kara, you’re taking all of the good details out of the story.”

“Yeah, and the Luthors are loaded too,” Winn adds. “So Lex didn’t need to be stealing from the university to afford this stuff. He did it just because he thought he could get away with it.”

“Thank you for those additions,” Kara says, her voice straining. “When Clark confronted him about it, Lex denied everything and tried to block the Tribune from student government meetings, emails, and records. It’s illegal to block us from those records because they’re public information. So, Clark organized a lawsuit against the student government and it all ended with a messy out-of-court settlement.”

It also ended a friendship. Lex and Clark were best friends before their senior year. There was a long-running benign feud between the Tribune and student government, and everyone had joked that Lex and Clark would have to break up when Lex won the election. It was supposed to be a joke, but a rift really did open between them when they stepped into their respective positions. It was like Lex became corrupted by power when he took office, and Clark only knew how to address the situation as a reporter. Kara remembers the sad look in Clark’s eyes when he told her he had met with a lawyer to set up the lawsuit. He knew that would be the final, irreparable tear in their relationship.

“So, the situation is resolved then?” Nia asks.

“Well, the lawsuit is over and we can’t be blocked from student government records anymore,” James says. “But another Luthor is president this year, so who knows if the drama is really over.”

“That’s not fair,” Kara argues. “Lena deserves her own chance to define how people see her. We owe that to her as good journalists and as good people.”

Alex clears her throat and regains the attention of the room. “Look, I don’t have a specific gripe with the Luthors. What I take issue with is hiding the truth. The reality is that the university administration won’t hesitate to cover-up a story in the interest of the university’s PR. ‘Image control’ is what they like to call it. The student government is just the same way. They are groomed to provide cookie-cutter answers in interviews and inundate us with requests for fluff pieces on events like pet-a-puppy during finals week.”

“I love puppies!” Nia exclaims.

“Who doesn’t?” Alex retorts. “That’s why it’s so distracting. We need to prepare ourselves to see past those tactics, because we are not their PR machine. That preparation starts with distrust.”

There is enough head nodding and murmurs of agreement from the rest of the staff for Kara to realize that Alex’s opinion is the general consensus of the room. She knows that she needs to redirect the narrative to maintain some shreds of impartiality in the newsroom.

“Alright, Alex, a lot of intensity in there, but I get where you’re coming from,” Kara says. “Sometimes we do have to expose ugly truths so that they can be dealt with and not just ignored. It’s true that a lot of people in administration and student government would rather us be PR cheerleaders, but we know that making things messy can be necessary for making things better. What you should take away from this is that everyone is trying their best to do what they think is right. We should respect that in our counterparts in student government and not vilify it.”

“Well, Lena Luthor should count herself lucky that a literal golden retriever is in charge of the Tribune this year,” Alex scoffs as her body relaxes, letting the issue drop.

“Glad that’s settled,” Kara pinches her forehead as she feels a stress headache coming on. Clark had warned her about these. “Thank you all for meeting today. Now, let’s go hit the ground running.”

The room is consumed by a dull roar of chatter as everyone collects their things and filters out. Kara lets out a heavy breath and finally sinks into her chair. One staff meeting down and no one had called her out on being an imposter yet. Maybe this whole being in charge thing wasn’t as inaccessible as it had seemed when she watched Clark and Lois doing it. Kara is disrupted from her stream of thoughts when a hand taps her on the shoulder.

“Hi, Kara,” says Nia. “I just wanted to say how excited I am to be working for you. I hope I wasn’t asking too many questions during the meeting. I want to do a good job so I just wanted to make sure I know the things I’m supposed to know.”

“You’re fine, Nia” Kara smiles. “I welcome questions whenever you have them. This is a friendly learning environment, so don’t let anyone make you feel differently. It’s going to be a good year, thanks for being on board with us.”

“Thanks, Kara,” Nia gives her a big smile back and waves as she leaves. Finally, the newsroom is empty save for Alex, James, and Winn who immediately crowd around her when Nia walks away.

“I think that went well. How do you feel, Kara?” James asks.

“I definitely feel better, but thanks a lot for that interruption, Alex,” Kara says, giving her sister a light smack in the stomach.

“Relax, Kara,” Alex says, paying Kara back with a smack to the arm. “You were going to have to address that issue sooner or later. It was better to do it right away and set the tone you want for the year.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Kara gives Alex a squinted glare. “But that was a sneaky move to pull without talking to me about it first.”

“I’m always right,” Alex waves her off. “Now come on, let’s go back to the house and crack some celebratory beers for my little sister’s first day as the boss.”

“Kara, my office,” Cat Grant calls from across the hall. The Tribune newsroom and Cat’s office are mere feet apart from each other. If both their office doors are open, it’s easy to hear what’s going on in the other room.

Kara nods at her sister and friends. “You all go on ahead. I’ll meet you back home.”

Kara takes a hard swallow and tries to quickly smooth her button-down. It’s not that she’s scared of Cat (anymore), but she has so much respect and admiration for Cat that she’s never quite sure what to do with it all whenever they talk. Typically, it manifests as an uncontrolled stream of rambling, which is exactly what’s coming out of her mouth as Kara crosses the hall and rounds the door to Cat’s office.

“Professor Grant, I can’t tell you how excited I am for this year,” Kara babbles. “Thank you so much for believing in me. I – what is she doing here?”

Kara stops in her tracks at the sight of Lena Luthor sitting in a chair opposite from Cat. Everything about Lena looks pristine. She’s sitting with perfect posture, hands folded in her lap, blouse perfectly tucked into her skirt. One foot is lightly tapping the carpet and Kara wonders if it’s out of impatience, but Lena is wearing an entirely unreadable expression. _Am I late to this meeting I didn’t even know about? _Kara thinks.__

“If you are done with your monologue, Kara, then I’d like you to meet Lena Luthor, student body president,” Cat says as she gestures toward Lena. “Lena, meet Kara Danvers, editor-in-Chief of the Tribune.”

“I – I am aware of who she is,” Kara sputters. It might be impossible to be a student at National City University and not know who Lena is. Not only does she have the fame factor of the Luthor last name, but her position .

“Likewise,” Lena says cooly, giving Kara a long stare.

Kara tilts her head in surprise. _Lena knows who she is?_ Lena and Kara were in the same freshman writing seminar years ago, but they didn’t interact much in class. Certainly not enough for Kara to think Lena would remember her. Since then, she’s only seen Lena in passing when going in and out of the student government office for interviews.

Lena is still staring at her. The realization jolts Kara into remembering that she’s gawking in the doorway. With an awkward dip of her head, Kara slides into the other chair across from Cat.

“Well then, you might have spared me the dull task of introductions,” Cat says. Let’s get to the point. I’m sure we can all agree that we do not want a repeat of last year.”

“I can assure you that I am not my brother, Professor Grant,” Lena says sharply. Kara notices Lena clench her hands at this. “I hope you’ll come to associate me more so with integrity and transparency than the Luthor name.”

“How comforting to hear, Ms. Luthor,” Cat continues. “So, I can assume that you two are unopposed to becoming friendly this year?”

“Like, you want us to hang out?” Kara asks, her wit still dulled from processing Lena’s surprise presence.

“I don’t care how you fill your social calendars,” Cat explains. “What I’m saying is that I’d like you to work together when major campus issues arise. That means both meetings, emails, and other records are open on both sides of the aisle. No withholding of information, no closing each other out of meetings, and, I can’t believe this needs to be said, no suing each other. Perhaps we can finally put an end to this unspoken cold war between the Tribune and student government.”

Internally, Kara is frustrated at this request. While she’s all for treating Lena and the other officers fairly in interviews, she is not a fan of being this closely intertwined. The fact is that some of what Alex said was true. The newspaper and the student government have opposing goals. The student government wants a good public image and the Tribune’s job is to be a watchdog, untethered to organizational allegiances. That’s about to get a lot harder if Lena starts requesting access to all of their meetings and emails. She could easily impede the quality of their reporting if she wanted.

While Kara wants to raise her objections right then, she decides it would go over better with Lena not in the room. So for the time being, Kara steels her jaw and manages to say, “Yes, Professor Grant.”

Lena’s answer does not immediately follow hers, but Kara can feel the heat of Lena’s searching gaze on her. She turns so that she fully faces Lena, intent on figuring out what could be holding up her response, but Kara is again met by an unreadable expression. It annoys Kara. _What the hell, does this girl moonlight as a poker pro? _Kara thinks. Lena seemingly can’t even seem to agree to not play games without playing a game. Kara’s eyebrows knit together in frustration. The pinched expression on Kara’s face seems to amuse Lena as she turns back to Cat with a slight smirk playing on her lips.__

“Of course, Professor Grant,” Lena says. “Trust that I will personally work with Kara as close as the job requires.”

“Glad we could all come to an agreement,” Cat says. “That will be all for now.”

Cat flicks her wrist toward the door and turns her attention back to her computer screen. Lena grabs her bag and scoots her chair back in. She’s still smirking at Kara when she holds out an open palm and says, “Give me your phone.”

“What?” Kara questions but she’s already handing her phone over.

“If Professor Grant wants us to work together, then we’ll have to be able to contact each other,” Lena says as she quickly taps at the screen.

Lena hands the phone back to Kara who can’t quite wipe the gaping expression from her face before Lena notices it. Lena crooks an eyebrow at her, “You can text me with your name so that I have your number too.”

The clack of Lena’s heels is audible even as she is halfway down the hall, and Kara can’t help but feel a little taunted with each step. Kara had intended to linger in Cat’s office anyway so that she could express her objections, but now she’s not so sure she could’ve left right away anyway. Her brain is working overtime to make sense of the interaction she just had with Lena. Until now, her reference point for Lena was the shy 18-year-old who politely declined to join the rest of the class for lunch after every session. The girl who only spoke consecutive sentences when answering questions about whatever assigned reading they had that week. On a conceptual level, Kara knew that Lena had broken out of her shell since freshman year, but actually facing this more confident version of Lena felt like social whiplash.

“Use your words if you need something, Kara,” Cat says as she types an email.

“Sorry, Professor Grant, I just can’t help but feel that this isn’t fair,” Kara says, surprising herself with her whiny tone. “We already get treated with enough condescension and disrespect as a student press without being told to sleep with the enemy.”

“For legal reasons, I do want to clarify that I am not asking you to sleep with anyone,” Cat interjects.

“I mean it as a figure of speech,” Kara blushes, but pushes ahead. “How are we supposed to play nice with an organization that we are supposed to watchdog? It’s not like all they do is plan a homecoming dance. We’re talking real powerful rights and obligations here. And now you’re telling me we have to open up our emails and meetings to people who would rather see us be a PR machine?”

“This decree came from the top, Kara.” Cat says, momentarily turning her attention to Kara. “Besides, if we argue that their records must legally remain open to us, then we ought to play by the same rules. There’s fair for you. Try not to think of this as, to use your words, sleeping with the enemy. Think of it as your chance to write your legacy. There’s a lot of value in a working relationship between the Tribune and the student government. You could be the editor who restores that relationship.”

Kara sits back and lets her shoulders sag. She can tell that the conversation is over and that she lost.

“Yes, Professor Grant,” Kara relents. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”

\---

The house Kara shares with her sister and friends is faded blue and has a wraparound porch. It’s the kind of house that was once a big family home, but has since fallen into a charming state of disrepair that marks many college neighborhoods. The kind of house that is too old to have an air conditioning system that works in any meaningful way, so they spend most evenings in the early fall on the porch. That’s where Kara finds them when she returns home, still sulking after her meeting with Cat and Lena.

“Kara!” Her name is yelled in near unison by Alex, Winn, and James. They are sitting in Adirondack chairs all with beers in hand, and Kara can see that there is a beer and a bowl of potstickers waiting for her in her chair. She collapses in the chair and sets aside her drink, turning her full attention to devouring food.

“Hi, thank you,” Kara says through a full mouth.

“The meeting was that good, huh?” James asks sarcastically.

Kara swallows down the last of her food and shakes her head. “Cat is strong-arming us, or Cat is being strong-armed into making us, to work with the student government this year. Like work closely. As in, they can sit in on meetings, request to see our article spread every week, and preview articles that have to do with campus. This is, like, an infringement of our rights.”

“What? Why would she do that?” Alex exclaims.

“She told me she wants to repair the relationship between the Tribune and the student government, but I think she’s just being strong-armed by the admins because they’re still pissed about the Clark and Lex thing,” Kara summarizes. “Her reasoning was that if we can request info from the student government, we should be just as transparent with them in return.”

“This blows,” Alex sighs. “Do you think Lena is going to enforce it? Lex would.”

“That’s another thing. I could not read her at all in the meeting. It’s like she was trying to mess with me,” Kara mutters.

Sensing Kara’s frustration, Winn tries to soften the mood. “Maybe this can be a good thing?”

Kara gives a noncommittal shrug. Day one of this partnership and she’s already tired of thinking about it. Instead, Kara turns her attention to an unfamiliar black SUV in the neighbor’s driveway.

“Do we know who the new neighbors are yet?” Kara asks as she gestures toward the SUV.

“We’ve seen signs of life, but we haven’t seen them yet,” Winn says.

“Whoever they are, they have to be better than Mike Matthews and his crew,” Alex says.

It’s quite possible that Mike Matthews and his housemates were drunk every single day of the previous academic year, which is almost impressive when Kara considers the level of commitment this requires. She isn’t sure if Mike ever actually went to a class or even had a major. If any other student had his academic record and citation history with the campus police, they would definitely be kicked out of school. Somehow, Mike managed to only get asked to move. The benefits of having a decent jump shot, Kara supposes. His house was mostly basketball players, and Kara wondered how they functioned on the court with all the drinking they did. She wished they’d take it more seriously, but they did win the league last year so something was working.

“For real,” James says, pausing a moment to crack a new beer. “I mean, how is that guy still in school? He doesn’t score that many points to overlook his gutter grades.”

“How many points would be enough for you to overlook serious red flags?” Alex asks.

“Don’t make me answer that question,” James chuckles. “I actually have a number in mind and it’s lower than you might think.”

“Oh, remember when they had that Usher themed party to “usher in the summer” the night before your journalism ethics final, Kara?” Winn reminisces. “None of us could sleep because they ended up blasting “Confessions Part II” on repeat all night.”

Kara winces at the memory of hearing that inescapable loop of Usher and a house of drunk people screaming “these are my confessions” at max volume until four in the morning. She barely had the energy to make it to her final the next day.

“That song got so stuck in my head that I almost wrote down “my chick on the side says she got one on the way” when Cat told us to finish up anything left that we needed to say on the last essay question.”

They all laugh, imagining Cat’s face while grading that essay answer. She would have had Kara on weather updates for a month at the Tribune as punishment.

Winn breaks from the laughter and points as two women grab boxes out of the parked SUV. “Hey, looks like our new neighbors are finally showing themselves.” Aren’t they both officers in the student government?”

“Sam Arias is the Treasurer, yes,” Alex says quickly, as if she doesn’t realize it’s coming out of her mouth.

Kara gives her a side-eyed glance. “You knew that awfully fast.”

“I interviewed her for an article once,” Alex tries to brush it off. “Know thy enemy, Kara.”

“Alright then, who’s the other girl?” Kara asks.

“Um… ” Alex stalls. “That’s Sam’s roommate.”

“So specific and descriptive,” Kara teases, gleeful that she has caught her sister in an obvious crush. “Has anyone ever told you that you should be a writer? You really have a way with words.”

Before she can twist the knife any deeper, James cuts in. “I recognize her. She’s the Secretary this year. I think her name is Eve.”

There’s a sinking feeling in Kara’s stomach.

“Wait, so two of the four executive officers in the student government are living next door,” Winn reasons. “You don’t think that means...”

Winn doesn’t have time to finish his question before she hears the familiar mocking clack of Lena’s heels as she gets out of a Mercedes that just pulled up by the curb. The rational side of Kara momentarily shuts down as she spits her beer out. The sudden commotion attracts the attention of their new neighbors.

“Everything okay?” Sam calls, pointing at Kara as she walks closer to their porch.

“It’s her first time trying beer,” Alex responds, barely trying to suppress a giggle.

“Ah, I remember my first time,” Sam smiles, and Kara catches the slight blush spreading across Alex’s cheeks. “Hi, I’m Sam. You’re Alex, right? I think you interviewed me for the Tribune once last year. Looks like we’re neighbors now.”

“Guilty as charged,” Alex says. _What is Alex doing with her hands? _Kara is so caught up trying to figure out what kind of physical meltdown her sister is having that she doesn’t notice Lena appear at Sam's side. “This is Winn and James. And this one over here is my sister –”__

“Kara,” Lena finishes Alex’s sentence for her. “Don’t tell me Cat Grant also orchestrated us being neighbors as part of her master plan.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her,” Kara groans.

“Can you believe we’re living next to a den of lions, Sam?” Lena jokes. “They all work for the Tribune.”

“They should’ve put that in the description of the house before we signed the lease,” Sam quips. “I guess we’ll have to be on our best behavior.”

“Indeed, we wouldn’t want to get on Kara’s bad side,” Lena continues. “She can write a hell of a story. Her piece on pressuring the university to divest from fossil fuels is what convinced me to write that into my campaign platform.”

Now it’s Kara’s turn to blush and she murmurs, “Oh, thank you.” She can’t help but notice how pleased Lena seems to be at her blushing.

“We have to finish unpacking, but we’re having a housewarming party tonight. You should all come by. You can meet our other housemates, Jack and Eve, too,” Sam offers.

“We’d love to,” Alex quickly agrees, giving an excited thumbs up to the retreating figures of Sam and Lena.

Kara stands to go back in the house, “I need more food and a nap if I’m going to have to watch you do whatever it is you were just doing with your hands all night.”

\---

“Maybe this year won’t be much different from last year,” James says looking at the rowdy party next door.

“Speak for yourself,” Alex says as she slips on her shoes. “The company has drastically improved from last year. C’mon we should go for a bit and welcome the new neighbors.”

“You just want to go over there to flirt with Sam,” Kara calls from the kitchen.

“You can stay home, Kara,” Alex deadpans. “The rest of you, let’s go.”

“Mmf you can’t stop me,” Kara chokes out as she finishes the last bites of her sandwich.

Kara chuckles to herself at the hurried slam of the front door. She liked to give Alex a hard time, but the truth is that she’s happy to see Alex excited about a girl again. In the interest of giving her sister a sufficient cushion of time to ease into talking with Sam, Kara takes her time leaving. She does a quick clean-up of the crumby mess her sandwich left on the countertop before assessing her appearance in the hallway mirror. She smooths the collar of her blue short-sleeved button-up, the one that Alex told her made her eyes pop. Kara isn’t usually one to overthink her outfits at drunken college parties. Half the time Kara went next to tell Mike’s and his teammates to quiet down last year, she was roped into playing beer pong half-asleep and in her pajamas. Tonight, though, she worries that she doesn’t look fun enough. Approachable enough? Cool enough? She’s not sure what is missing exactly, but Kara undoes another button on her shirt and hopes that’s enough to quiet the issue in her head as she heads out the door.

When Kara rounds into her neighbors’ backyard, she sees that her housemates have already assimilated with the student government crowd. Alex and Sam are locked in conversation sitting suspiciously close to each other on the porch. It seems that the closer Alex gets to Sam, the further her hands go into shutdown mode. Kara winces as each sentence her sister forms is punctuated by a new contortion of her hands. _Christ, Alex._ As she looks away, she spots Winn and James amicably arguing with Jack about how good the men’s basketball team will be this year. _Ah, parties. The great Switzerland of college activities_ , Kara muses to herself. S _o much for all the talk about sworn enemies this afternoon_.

As Kara contemplates joining the basketball debate, she spots Lena mixing a drink alone at the make-shift bar. Any sighting of Lena at a party would’ve been improbable to Kara freshman year, but this current version of Lena in a low-cut black tank and short black skirt seemed beyond unimaginable. Kara would’ve tried inviting Lena to a lot more parties back then if she had known that Lena wasn’t opposed to it. She finds herself moving toward Lena at the bar. If everyone else could be friends, then Kara could think of no reason that she and Lena couldn’t also be friends.

“Good party,” Kara says innocuously, feigning an investigation of the liquor bottles on the table.

Lena doesn’t look up from her pour. “And here I was worried we might be too tame for Mike Matthew’s former neighbors.”

“Yeah, he was just about as bad of a neighbor as you could get,” Kara laughs. She casually picks up a bottle of whiskey and turns it over to read its ABV.

Lena finishes mixing what Kara now sees is a rather full solo cup of a vodka tonic. “Except for a house full of student government officers, right?”

“Excuse me?” Kara’s body comes to a stop and she feels her confidence deflate a little. After how flattering Lena was of her work this afternoon, Kara didn’t expect this hostile reception.

Lena folds her arms and looks squarely at Kara. “There’s no need to play naive with me, Kara Danvers. The distance between the Tribune office and Cat Grant’s office is trivial. It’s not like I needed superpowers to overhear your staff meeting.”

Kara nearly drops the bottle of whiskey she’s still holding. “How long were you waiting for me in Cat’s office?” Kara asks even though she’s dreading the answer.

“Long enough to hear about how untrustworthy we all are, especially those of us named Luthor,” Lena’s tone and expression are neutral. “I didn’t realize what a hard-on you all have for the image of yourselves as truth-keepers. Why, your sister’s words almost inspired me to pick up a notepad and recorder.”

“Lena, I’m so sorry you had to hear that,” Kara apologizes. “That’s not representative of us at all. Clearly there are still some hard feelings left over from Lex, but I promise that it won’t affect our reporting at all.”

Kara sets down the bottle so she can make a full-bodied effort in apologizing. She’s prepared to continue rambling apologies for the rest of the night, but Lena waves her off.

“You’re so easy to get a rise out of,” Lena rolls her eyes and pushes Kara lightly on the shoulder. “I’m teasing you. My brother did try to ruin the Tribune after all. Your staff has every right to be upset about it. Lex created a lot of problems last year. I don’t expect those to go away just because he has.”

“Oh,” Kara says, relaxing her shoulders a little. “Well, I’m still sorry you have to deal with that.”

“Consider it a family tradition,” Lena says as she takes a sip of her drink. “You can also relax about me trying to turn the paper into a PR machine. By all means, expose the university for its subpar cafeteria food and antiquated policies. I have neither the interest nor the time to meddle in the honesty of your reporting.”

“Well, it’s not like I would have let you turn us into a PR machine,” Kara says, puffing her chest out a little. “But thank you. I appreciate the sentiment.”

Lena’s expression melts a little at this. Kara’s body suddenly feels warm.

“Like I said in Cat’s office, I hope that you and your staff will come to associate me with integrity,” Lena says. “But until then I understand that means trust is in scarce supply for me.”

The lonely expression on Lena’s face as she says this doesn’t sit well with Kara. She has an abrupt and all-consuming urge to make Lena smile.

“Hey, you’re not completely without allies,” Kara grins. “If you heard all the negative things that were said, then you must have heard me defend you?”

Kara’s words don’t have the effect she wants. Instead of a smile, Lena gives her an unimpressed look. “Yes, I did have the great fortune to catch your tepid defense,”

“I’m serious, Lena,” Kara continues. “Even if you don’t trust anyone else on my staff, you can trust me.”

Lena's expression falters first, then hardens. “Thank you, Kara Danvers, but I think I’ll extend my healthy skepticism to you as well.”

Kara winces at the use of her own words against her.

“It’s nothing personal, Kara,” Lena gives her a softer look. “I’m under a lot of scrutiny thanks to my brother. I can’t afford to trust anyone really.”

“I understand,” Kara pouts.

“I’m going to mingle,” Lena’s tone is neutral again. “You know, presidential responsibilities and all that. Please help yourself to drinks and food.”

All Kara can manage is a nod as Lena walks away to join another circle of conversation. Suddenly uninterested in maintaining coherent thought, Kara grabs the bottle of whiskey and marches over to James and Winn. Alex has joined the boys since the last time Kara did a scan of the party.

“What happened to your lady friend?” Kara asks.

“She had party host duties to fulfill,” Alex responds evenly. “What happened to your lady friend?”

Kara brushes past the comment and lifts the bottle. “Shots?”

“Shots.” Alex agrees.

The rest of the party is spent in a blur of challenging Alex to keg stands, keeping Winn from trying to outdrink a much larger James, and failing to convince Jack to add Usher to the party playlist. It's a good night, but Kara still can’t help but feel a little hollow at the end of it when she thinks about her conversation with Lena. Alex throws an arm around Kara to steady herself as they spill out of their neighbors’ yard and back to their house.

“Hey, what did happen between you and Lena tonight?” Alex whispers low enough that the boys can’t hear.

“What? Why?” Kara asks, grateful that her face is already flush from drinking.

“You mean you didn’t notice? Honestly, Kara,” Alex chides. “She was staring at you all night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prank war will start next chapter, I promise. There will be drama.

**Author's Note:**

> The prank war will start next chapter, I promise. There will be drama.


End file.
